Friday, July 6, 2012

Once again...we are childless for the next few weeks, while our children attend camp in North Carolina....I have never had all three of them gone at one time for so long. This is a first...Elizabeth is a full fledged counselor (getting paid - yay), Sara is a counselor in training and Ellen is a full fledged camper...we spent last week in North Carolina, enjoying a friend's house that overlooks Lake Nantahala, where ourcell phones or Internet did not work!!! Great for quality, family time - hence my lack of blogging last week!

I have all these posts swirling around in my head, but I am just going to jump in with the Fourth of July, and then go back and try to catch up! I have some beautiful photos from North Carolina to share with you, but we would be here all day if I try to make this one long post, soooo ~ here we go for our first, completely childless Fourth of July!!!!!

Pat (Gary's brother) manned the anchor

Louie and Gary piloted

Courtney and I relaxed!!! Their children are gone right now too!

We moved our great, grey, hunk of steel out of the marina to catch up with some

friends who were anchored at a nearby island.

The weather was a tad rough...but we made it - because of the weather, I wasn't
focused on taking too many photos...now I am regretting that!

Some friends joined us...dolphins!

and our Louisiana state bird ~ the Pelican

We visited for several hours then headed back to the dock and thankfully, the winds had died down a bit, so the ride back was calmer and items weren't flying around the cabin! We dined on shrimp the size of your hand for our "Fourth of July Dinner"...a friend of ours is a shrimper and he calls us when he gets the "big" ones. Lest you think I am exaggerating.....

They were an average of seven inches long! Three or four shrimp are a meal.

I saved all the heads to boil and make a seafood stock! That is today's project.

We all laugh, because from the outside, we truly do have the ugliest boat in the marina, but when you step inside - it is quite impressive and very functional. However, it looks pretty from the outside in this photo with all the lights glimmering and glowing in the marina. I was pleasantly and unexpectedly surprised at the fireworks display on the beach. Hundreds of revelers started shooting fireworks at dusk
and the celebration didn't stop until around 11:00 PM!

At first we were watching from our boat, not expecting this

beautiful, exhibition of colorful explosives!

When we realized what was going on, we walked over to the beach to join the party. I practiced trying to photograph fireworks. It isn't easy! By the time you click the shutter button - the display has evaporated into thin air and all you have is black night.
Trust me, there were a lot of those photos!

Finally, I figured out that you have to click the shutter just before the rocket explodes, and just hope it is a good one! Fortunately, there were a lot of fireworks for me to practice on! You can see how many folks are on the beach!

Around 10:00, the city joined in and provided an additional
display of incredible pyrotechnics.

I wonder how many dollars went up in smoke that night????

By the end of the night, I got the firework photography thing down!

Just thought this one was funny....looks like Gary has blue hair!

This one is named "Brotherly Love"...see how there is a perfect heart of fireworks?

Part of the "Grand Finale"...I have always loved fireworks and definitely got my fill of them this year. When the grand show died down....we still had something beautiful to behold.

Ms. Moon decided to provide her own lunar exhibition.

It was stunning, and even though I didn't have my children

with me ~ a most enjoyable Fouth of July....
Now, that I have caught up on the current part of our life - my next post will be about our awesome trip to North Carolina..
we vacationed for a week, and then dropped the girls off at camp.
Here are a few "teaser" photos.

We are home for a while now...so I hope to be "here" a little more frequently! Also, to all my winners - I will be getting your winnings in the mail soon...like tomorrow or Monday!Have a great weekend!

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About Me

I am "Mom" to three incredible, wonderful girls (I know, I know ~ I am a bit biased - but hey, aren't all Mamas...that is what we are here for ~ to champion our children!); a wonderful husband who doesn't get near enough credit in my blog; three gorgeous girl dogs; 15 egg producing chickens; one squawking cockatiel, two independent cats, 13 baby producing rabbits ~ yes the saying "breed like rabbits" is true; one cooing dove; seven hay and feed eating horses; two turtles that do nothing; and a partridge in a pear tree (had to say it!). This is a random blog that depicts a bit of what our crazy life is like when you mix them all together! If you have a minute ~ become a follower! If you like my posts ~ leave a comment. Enjoy the ride......